RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Rattle Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Rattle Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rattle Ridge and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Rattle Ridge:
    • 39.336215, -77.211094
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Rattle Ridge
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Rattle Ridge is near Montgomery County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Rattle Ridge

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rattle Ridge ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Damascus
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Damascus Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Damascus Gardens is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus Gardens
  • Diamond View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Diamond View is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond View
  • Englandtowne
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Englandtowne is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englandtowne
  • Fountain Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fountain Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Mills
  • Friendship
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Friendship is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Friendship Knolls
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Friendship Knolls is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Knolls
  • Gently Savage
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gently Savage is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gently Savage
  • Green Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
  • Harmony Hall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Harmony Hall is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Hall
  • Harvest Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Harvest Ridge is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvest Ridge
  • Hickory Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hickory Hill is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Highview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Highview is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
    • Jacobs Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jacobs Run is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Run
    • Kelly Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Kelly Ridge is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Ridge
    • Long Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Long Corner is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Corner
    • Meadowbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Mill Bottom
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mill Bottom is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Bottom
    • Quail Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Quail Run is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Rising Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rising Ridge is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Ridge
    • Rolling Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Skyline Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Skyline Woods is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Woods
    • Stonelake
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Stonelake is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonelake
    • Sugarloaf Overlook
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sugarloaf Overlook is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Overlook
    • Sunnybrook Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunnybrook Farms is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook Farms
    • Tranquility
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Tranquility is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tranquility
    • Treasure Mountain
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Treasure Mountain is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure Mountain
    • Wolf Den Spring
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Wolf Den Spring is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Den Spring

How Far From Rattle Ridge to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rattle Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rattle Ridge and extending to:

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rattle Ridge to Frederick, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 45 miles [72.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 31 miles [49.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,886 miles [9,472.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,593 miles [10,610.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,470 miles [7,193.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rattle Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<4>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Rattle Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rattle Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3362, Longitude: -77.2111       In this case, the coordinates for Rattle Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.964 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.592 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.618 degrees.